Ricochet
by Elegant Nomenclature
Summary: In the future, resonance between two true runes sends a chain of events into the past, rewriting history as we know it. In this new reality, Harmonia now controls more than half of the northern continent, but not everyone is happy with that change.
1. The Last Battle

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything related to the Suikoden World, would it be the universe itself, the canon characters or the various concepts. All rights are the intellectual property of Konami. All the original characters and ideas that are part to this story are, however, mine and under no circumstances shall they be used without my prior knowledge and contentment. I would like to thank Konami for creating such a wonderful and epic series as well as my two friends Brittany B. who allowed me to use some of her ideas and Taylor V. K. for being the best critique there is and both their encouragements.

**Author's Note:** The events unfolding in this story happens about five years after the Second Fire Bringer War. This first chapter serves as the Prologue to the story, explaining what has happened and why everything has changed. Changes that will become more apparent in the future chapters. As you will notice, most of the characters involved in this story will be Original Characters and, while some will make appearances, very few Canon will be involved in the story, if but in passing.

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><p><strong>RICOCHET<strong>

Chapter 1

The Last Battle

The sweat was dripping from his face. This was proving much more difficult than he had thought it would be. No, that wasn't quite right. He knew that, in the end, today would require all of his physical and mental power to live through it. No matter how much he had trained through his life, no matter all the hardship he had lived through the years, no matter how prepared he had been for today. No one could be fully prepared for a day like this. It was what one could call the final battle of a man's resolution. Maybe there would be many battles in his future, maybe the whole world would turn against him one day, but there was no doubt in his mind that today was the real last battle. It was win or die. There was no way that he could continue the fight if today was lost. Even if he was to survive the day, this was the one victory they could not afford to miss.

It was funny how, no matter how many battles he had won in the past, no matter how pushed in a corner the Holy Kingdom was, if this one assault was to fail, everything would crumble under him…. No, it wasn't just him now. He had thousands of followers behind him. People who had enough of the tyrannical regime, people who saw a light of hope in him and his army, even people who were still loyal to the Crystal Palace, but knew that the real way to stay loyal to their land was not to fight for it anymore, but to fight to change it back to what it had once been. Yes, all those people were hoping he would win that day. He couldn't afford to lose. A loss here wouldn't just mean the end of it all; it would mean the death for almost everyone backing him.

Still, in the end, he was feeling like a little child trying to fight a giant of rock. In a way, it really was what it was. Who would have thought that one day, a war orphan, through a series of impossible events, would have managed to raise an army against the most powerful nation of the world, Harmonia? Yet, this was what that had happen. Even now he wasn't quite sure on how everything had happen, but it wasn't time for asking questions anymore. He couldn't afford to be distracted as the sound of steel clashing against steel and the coppery smell of blood was surrounding him.

With all that atrocity surrounding him, it was almost ironic that the weather outside was the best the Holy Kingdom had seen in a month. If there were still people in Harmonia who were unaware of what was happening today, something that he doubted highly, surely they were currently outside sipping tea and eating cookies, chitchatting about how pretty the sky was and how fresh the air felt. Even here, as the light shimmered through the glass window and reflected on the many statues decorating the room he was in, he couldn't help but to think on how beautiful the palace was. Even the blood covering the floors, walls and statues didn't seem to remove any hint of glamour. Oh, how he wished to have seen the Crystal Palace under better circumstances.

It was then, as he reflected on the aesthetic of the palace that a voice kicked him out of his reflection. At first, he didn't understand what had been said, the noises and screams of the fight muffling the words. He just knew that someone had spoken to him loudly enough for him to notice their presence. "What….What was that?" he asked the figure standing near him. The man was of medium stature, slightly smaller than him.

"I asked if you were alright," the man said in a slightly worried voice. His short brown hair was sticking to his forehead due to a mix of sweat and blood. Even though he had seen that man's face countless of time through the last year, it still took him longer than expected to recognize him, especially considering he counted him among his most trusted friends and loyal companion… and that he had seen him last less than an hour ago.

"Ah… yes. Sasarai…. I'm alright," he confirmed to the bishop.

"Good to know, but you have the wrong one," the brown haired man replied with a stern face.

He blinked twice, trying to understand what the bishop had meant by that. What had he gotten wrong? Then, like a sac of brick being thrown at him, the realization of it hit him hard. Was he really alright? He couldn't even understand a simple sentence like that, much less tell his friend apart from the other members of his family… If one could really call that a family. Even among themselves they couldn't agree on what they were. Damn clones.

"Sorry… I suppose that I'm a bit overwhelmed by everything that is happening," he admitted truthfully.

"Don't be sorry and don't admit to it," replied the other male. His eyes were staring straight toward him, almost piercing him through his soul. They always seemed angry, but when one was to look more into it, sadness and loneliness could be found. After knowing what he had been through, it wasn't hard to understand why.

"Don't admit to it?" he asked his friend, not understanding what he had meant by that.

"If others were to know that you aren't to your full potential right now, moral would drop," the bishop explained. "And we do not want moral to drop right now, do we?"

He was right; he had to get a grip over it. Not only for his sake or for his friend's, but for the whole kingdom. He gave a quick nod and threw a small, but genuine smile to his friend. "You are right. We do not want that. Let's go finish that battle." For a second, no, less than that, he could have sworn he had seen a smile on the bishop's face, but that would have been too good to be true. Hell, it probably would have been a bad omen.

As they were about to leave the room to proceed further inside the palace, the large door behind them opened loudly, clashing against the walls perpendicular to them. Quickly, both men got into battle stance, one raising his weapon, the other starting to chant a spell. It wasn't because they had already advance to the center of the Crystal Palace that guards and loyalist couldn't surprise them from behind. After all, many of their members were still fighting in every other room, as well as on the fields and town surrounding the castle. They were but the advance guard, lead by him to dispatch of the High Priest before he had time to do anything drastic.

The little thing that came through the doors, however, was at the same time the least frightening thing in the world, as well as the most horrific that he knew. While knowing full well who it was, he still debated for a moment whether he should lower his weapon or not. With her, no one could be sure. If he was to lower his guard, she might do something terrible, like hug or kiss him. He was pretty sure he had achieved the maximum amount of time a man could be hugged in his life before all that remained of his pride had vanished. Still, in the end, he lowered his weapon, believing her to be smart enough to control herself in the middle of a battle like they all were. Judging by the battle stance of his friend, the bishop was thinking otherwise.

"Aaaaaaawwwwwhhhh, guuuuuuuuuuuuys. Why the horrible welcome? Did I just walk into your special alone time?" she chimed as she skittered through the hall toward them. Long red hair, large brown eyes, barely an inch or two taller than five foot and a body so lightly clothed that she might as well have been naked. Truly an incarnation of evil.

"Shut up," simply said the bishop before finally lowering his guard. He knew as well as anybody that there was nothing he could do to get rid of her. "What's in your hand?" he asked her, noticing a shimmering light coming from her hand as she walked through a ray of sunlight. In her right hand was her precious scimitar that she never went anywhere with. Judging by the deep reddish brown stain on it, she had done her share of killing in the battle. Obviously, this was not what the male had been asking about. In her other hand, however, was what would have appeared to be a helm.

She raised it above her head, almost shoving it in the brown haired man's face. "A helmet!" she exclaimed. "A Harmonian Helmet!" she specified.

"I can see that. I was asking you _why_ you had a helmet in your hand. I believe it is too late to save your brain from any damages. That is, if you have a brain. I doubt it, but the world has so many mysteries, one can never be sure." The bishop kept a stoic expression as he mocked the young girl. His friends had been used to see him keep a stern expression through all sort of situations and it was not a rare thing for him to be sarcastic like that.

"Duh!" said the redhead before poking her tongue out at the bishop. "It's a spoil of war! I thought I could use it as an armour, to, you know, armour myself, but it's too big and keeps falling off, so instead, I'm going to sell it at the market! I should get a good fifty potch out of it!" She nodded furiously with a grin larger than a sane man could do.

"Sara…" said the other man for the first time since the girl had walked into the room. "You really are going to just drag that thing along through all the fights?" he asked her. "Isn't that a bit…. Inconvenient?"

She looked at him, blank expression on her face as the little wheels in her brain turned fast, very fast. "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh… uuhhhhh… I suppose…. You're right. Dammit." Without wasting one more moment, she threw the helm above her shoulders, not caring about it anymore.

Of course, as fate would have it, one couldn't throw something blindly without having it hitting somebody else. In this instance, it was a young boy bearing a striking similarity with the girl, if not for his shorter hair and half a dozen pounds in muscle more. "Dammit, Sara!" he exclaimed as the protective gear hit him on the shoulder. Before any of the other two men could do anything, the two siblings had started to bicker among themselves. It was as if they had both forgotten the battle they were in the middle off.

"Dag! Sara! Cut it out!" exclaimed the bishop, his short patience having run out a long time ago. "We have a High Priest to kill." He simply said before walking away. The other three shared a look before nodding in agreement and following behind him.

The High Priest…. He was their final target. Without him, the whole Holy Kingdom of Harmonia would crumble and they would all be able to rebuild it without all its previous flaws. It would be the end of the racial superiority, of the enslavement, of the needless cruelty. All around the Holy Kingdom people were praying for his victory against him. Even some of the High Priest most trusted bishops had joined his side, hoping to reform Harmonia. He was now within reach, in the inner room of the Circle Palace. Soon, everything would be over. He wasn't sure at one hundred percent that the victory would be his, but no matter what the outcome of the battle would be, it was clear that everything would be over after that. It was just a question of who would come out victorious of it.

Their travel through the palace was without much trouble. They did encounter the occasional group of soldiers, trying their best to protect what they had sworn an oath to protect, but in the end, it was nothing that the four of them couldn't handle. Or at least this was what Dag kept telling them every time they were fighting a new group of enemies. You had to give it to the boy; he sure knew how to keep seeing the bright side of things. In a way, it was a welcomed change. Soon enough they had made their way to the inner chamber of the castle. All that was left between them and their goal were two gigantic deep blue lead doors. Standing in front of them, he could feel his heart beating faster and louder than it ever had before. On his right hand, his True Rune was pulsating to his heart beat. It wanted to be let free. It wanted to show the world its own magnificence. He was reluctant to use it and, up till now, had yet to do so in the current battle, but he was no fool; he knew that the High Priest had a True Rune of his own and wouldn't be shy to use it. No doubt that he would have to use his own against the High Priest's.

It was no surprise that the two siblings had volunteered to open the large door standing in front of them; opening them with their feet, of course. As they were slammed opened with the twin's kick, they revealed to the party something that none of them were expecting. On the other side, greeting them, was not the High Priest like he was expecting. Instead stood in midair a giant snake, biting it's own tail as a bluish flame engulfed it. Shimmers of gold seemed to cover it's body, reflecting the light of the flame. However, as strange, powerful and scary it was, the real horrifying thing was not the snake itself. It was the giant eye in the middle of it, also floating in midair and rotating on itself as an acidic liquid flowed out of it to drip and burn the floor. It was a monstrosity in itself. It was the Ouroboros, the incarnation of the Circle Rune.

He should have known that the High Priest would have been able to create something like that with his True Rune. He had, after all, been the bearer of it for many centuries. It was more than enough time to master the secrets of the rune. He felt a chill go down his spine as his eyes were glued to the floating monstrosity. He wasn't sure what was more terrifying: That, or the thought of what would have been necessary to summon it. How many innocent had to die in order to bring forth the Incarnation? No, he didn't want to think about it. He couldn't think about it; not now.

For now, all he could do was draw his weapon with the rest of his team and hope to kill the snake before it killed them. He had to be confident in his abilities to do so. For his sake. For the world's sake. Once that was done, the High Priest himself would only be a piece of cake. It probably had taken him all his power to summon forth that horror.

However, before any of them had time to do anything, the giant eyes dissolved itself and the snaked opened its mouth and fell down to the floor, dead, as it disappear in a flash of blue smoke. He was a bit stunned as to what had happened. It had just…died? Just like that? He blinked. There had to be an explanation…

The loud laugh that came out of the room was explanation enough. All four of them knew that voice all too well. Giving a second look to the room, now with a clear view inside as the horror was not in their way anymore, he spotted two more of his closest generals. It would have appeared that the two men had arrived first and had been able to slain the beast by themselves. Knowing who the two of them were, it came to no surprise to him that they had been able to do so. He wouldn't have trusted anyone else but those two to do such a feat like that by themselves.

The two of them approached the group. One was tall and, by all the definitions of it, handsome. Even in his advance forties, he still looked as handsome as a man of twenty. He had medium length brown hair that he kept out of his face with a blue bandana. In fact, most of his clothing was blue. That, along with his trademark lighting rune on his hand, had earned him the nickname 'Blue Lightning' a long time ago. He was one of the most well known men on the northern continent. How many times had it been now that he had taken arms for justice? The reputation of Flik the Blue Lightning really preceded him.

"Well! About time you lot showed up! I was getting tired of waiting for your sorry asses, so I decided to get some action for myself!" laughed the other man who, by all account, was everything that Flik was not. Loud, rude, brash and smelled worst than a barbarian from the nameless lands. How the two of them could be friends was a mystery to him. Still, no one would doubt Viktor's skills with a sword. His technique was unrefined, but it sure got the job done. There had been rumours in the past that he had once held a legendary weapon that could cut through anything and kill any beast of the night, but if there was any truth to it, he had discarded such sword a long time ago for a regular broadsword.

"Such impatience," stated the bishop as he walked into the room and passed the two of them, not even giving them a second look. "Truly fitting for a child like you."

"Oi! What do you mean by that?" asked the bear of a man. The bishop didn't even replied to him. He didn't have time to amuse simple minded people like him.

"Sorry about that…. Viktor here can be hard to control when he gets excited," said Flik.

Before anyone else could say anything, Sara had made a jump across the room and was now holding him by the left arm, rubbing her face against his shoulder. "Oh, sir Flik! Aren't you handsome? Slaying such a beast on your own? Oh, you are so muscular! You should show me your muscles! _All_ of them, teehee~!"

Dag sighed heavily. Having enough of his sisters antics, he grabbed her by the ponytail and started to drag her toward the set of door on the other side of the room. "Is he in there?" he asked Flik and Viktor, talking loudly to be heard above his twin's shrieks.

"Yeah, bastard disappeared behind them after summoning that crazy snake," answered the more brash of the two.

"He shouldn't have gotten far. He would have needed to stay close to maintain the Rune's incarnation," the bishop said, "That… and I can feel him behind the door."

They all looked at each other. They knew that finally the real final battle was there. They just had to open the door and it would be the end of it all. The six of them walked to the door and, in a deep breath, opened it.

It took them a few seconds to have their eyes get used to the sudden darkness. Unlike the rest of the palace that had countless windows and multiple surfaces to reflect the sunlight, this room was pitch black. Not a single window or candle in it to brighten up the room. Still, probably due to magic in a way or another, it wasn't hard to see in it. The room was mainly empty with the exception of a shrine to the back. Some glyphs seemed to have been drawn on the walls, but it was hard to tell what exactly they were without being able to examine them closer.

Standing in front of the shrine was the High Priest, dressed in his fancy clothing and strangely calm for a man backed up to a corner like he was with his most powerful weapon just destroyed by only two men.

"And so you are all here, inside my chambers, without any sort of invitation. You people are quite rude you know that? Fitting of second and third rate citizens like you," he said in a very calm voice. Viktor, Dag and Sara all took grip of their weapon, trying hard to control their anger toward the man who was calling himself Hikusaak, High Priest of the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia. The other three stayed calm.

"Your reign is over," said the bishop, who was a perfect likeness to the man standing in front of them. If it wasn't for the difference in clothing and the slight hint of madness in the High Priest's eyes, no one would have been able to tell them apart. "Please return the Circle Rune to the shrine and leave to never return again".

The High Priest had other plans. He laughed at the suggestion, amused by the foolishness of it. "You think it's funny? All those people who suffered because of you!" exclaimed the red haired boy. He, like many others, had lost someone close to him due to Harmonia's strict policies and many invasions.

"Why, yes, I do!" admitted the High Priest, sill laughing. "Thinking that the six of you can come here and really believe you can disrupt the precious order of the Circle Palace? It is quite funny! Now please, all die and let us be done with it." He raised his right hand and in a flash of bright blue light, the Circle Rune, one of the twenty seven True Runes, shone. All of them immediately guarded themselves, not knowing what was coming their way other than it would have been something powerful. Well, all of them but one. He didn't guard against the attack. Instead, he raised his own right hand and called forth his own True Rune, the Time Rune. He hated using it, feeling the life leaving his body every time he did so, but right now was not the time to doubt himself. He was the leader of the revolution and the other five in the room with him where his friends, he had to do everything he could to help them. He would use the power of his rune to trap the High Priest's rune in a time lock, rending it unusable for the battle. It might take him all his will to achieve it, but even if it was the only thing he would do for the whole battle, it would help greatly protect his friends until they won the fight.

However, something unexpected happened. Instead of the rune shading away, locked away in a time that was not this one, he saw his friends slowly becoming transparent and then vanishing from the room. First it was Viktor, then Flik, the bishop, and finally the twins. Following them was the very room they had been standing in, then the castle, the field, the Holy Kingdom itself and soon the whole planet. All that was left was him and the High Priest, both with their True Rune activated, facing each other with the whole universe surrounding them.

"Wha-what is happening?" he asked, not understanding what had just happened.

As for the High Priest, he was still laughing. "Did you really think you could use your rune against me? Fool! You had it for what? A year at the most? I had mine for centuries! There is no way you can overpower mine like that. You thought you could use your Time Rune to control my Circle Rune? No. It is I that is controlling yours," he explained with a large smirk on his face. "The Circle Rune represent Order. You brought chaos to our land and so with the power of those two True Runes, that chaos shall be erased from time and you with it."

It was then that he understood. It wasn't his friends and the world that had vanished, but him. The High Priest was using the power of the runes to remove him from history. By doing so, the revolution would never have started and Harmonia would still stand big above the other countries of the world. He had no idea that such a thing was possible, but he wasn't doubting that the power of two True Runes being used by one as skilled in magic and who had spent centuries with his own rune could make it happened.

But it couldn't happen. He had to stop it. He didn't care if he died or if he was erased from existence, he just couldn't let Harmonia go back to what it was before. However, he had no idea what he could do. He truly was powerless in front of the High Priest. He knew that there was no way he could control both runes, he knew that now. Slowly, every star in the universe surrounding them faded away. Soon, nothing would exist anymore and his very existence would be no more. He would be alone in that darkness at the end of times.

It was then that he saw it, a small glimmer in the distance. No matter how much time passed, it was still there, present. A star was still shining… no, more than one. Multiple stars were as bright as ever in the sky, not fading in the slightest. One hundred and eight of them, watching over him, guiding him. It was then that he remembered the words of the seeress: "_Destiny is the fate of all things, but a strong man with strong friends can move the wheel of destiny and change fate itself_".

With new resolve, it was clear to him what he had to do now. The only solution at the point was not to reverse the process, but to break the link itself. If the two True Runes were not in sync anymore, there was no way the High Priest would be able to achieve what he was trying to do, no matter how skilled or powerful he was.

In a scream of determination, he used all of his will power to control his own rune and break the link with the other rune. He could feel all hundred and eight star in the universe backing him up. The smirk on the High Priest face slowly faded away as he understood what was happening. "No!" he screamed a mere moment before the link could be broken. To ensure that it wouldn't, he pushed more of his own rune's power, but it was too late; the link was broken.

But it was more than just broken. The High Priest's last push had still destroyed the balance. The energy of it came rushing right into the other rune's bearer. He didn't feel a thing as his body shattered into billions of dust particles, leaving only the True Rune of Time behind. But it wasn't all. The High Priest himself felt his body projected through time and space, making him crash in a land and time unknown.

Yet, it still wasn't all, as the shock wave of the Circle Rune was still ricocheting through time. Attracted to the other True Rune bearers through history, every one of them were affected by it and critical decisions in their lives were changed. In the island nation to the south, a certain pirate decided to use his Rune of Punishment before his time, making him die years earlier. In the grasslands to the west, a young boy was able to control his True Fire rune, winning him a battle, making him lose a war. In the far south, a Queen lost self control on the power of the sun and soon half her country was but a harsh desert. In the scarlet moon empire, three True Runes joined together in the final battle, instead of two, creating unknown carnage through the land. And in the city states, two friends decided to stick together instead of fighting for what they believed in, resulting in both their deaths.

It is in this alternate time line, where everything went wrong, that our story truly begins.


	2. The Dragon, The Witch and The Gay Bishop

**Author's Note: **Once again, I would like to thank Brittany B. for so many reasons I won't even dare listening them for fears I forget one and she starts hunting me down for retribution. I would like to say that I forgot to add something in the AN of my previous chapter (which I eddited in just now). While this story is not one primarily of love and romance, it WILL contain some romantic interactions, but not only m/f, but also m/m and f/f. I whole universe with only straight people wouldn't be very realistic, now would it?

Starting from this chapter, I will add in many different Point of Views (POV) of different characters detailing the events of the story in different perspectives. They will be as much in chronological order as they can be. Some will be longer than others, some will be very short, some will come back more than once in a chapter, some chapters will contain just one, some will contain many. This chapter introduced three of the main characters of the story. Like the title says, a "Dragon" a "Witch" and a "Gay Bishop". Those of you who know of Narnia will see the inspiration of it. It's lacking a wardrobe, but the closest thing in the story to a wardrobe was a bathtub, so... But yes. There is a dragon knight, a rune mistress and a want-to-be Harmonian Bishop (currently a temple knight in training). I also fear like I must talk about the "gay" in the title. It was used there ironically (because I'm an ironic hipster) as meaning "happy" (since Jacob is... well, you'll see) and not homosexual. I don't think I really had to specify it, but I'm not taking any risk. Anyhow, enjoy. The next chapter will take longer to be publish as I'm entering spring break next week and will be away on a different continent. Have fun reading!

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><p><strong>RICOCHET<strong>

Chapter 2

The Dragon, The Witch and The Gay Bishop

**Noel**

It had been many years now, more than a decade – almost two – since the City-State Alliance had crumbled under the Highland invasion. The defeat had been so quick and ruthless that historian and strategist looked back on it with a cringe at how pitiful it had been. The City-States had never been one for cooperation, but during the events of the war, they had fallen to a new low. When the city of Muse had been attacked by the Royal Prince of Highland, Luca, both Greenhill and South Window were lacking the troops to send to their aids, while Tinto had simply and blatantly refused to send any form of help at all. Still, this was nowhere near as inexcusable as what the Matilda Knights had done. While they had been able to send troops, the moment things looked bad for Muse, they had recalled their men, letting the city be sacked in less than a week. The force coming from Two River never had the time to reach the city.

From that moment, it had been like a domino effect. One city after another fell as the Highland army advance without pity, ruthless as ever. In half a year, everything that once was part of the City-State alliance, minus the Tinto principality, had been conquered by Highland. Of course, when one looked back on it all, the pace at which Luca had crushed the States and his little care to actually maintain them was probably the biggest reason of his downfall and why Harmonia decided it was time for them to bow to the Holy Kingdom, sending the whole country into another war. One that, this time, they had lost.

More than half of the northern continent was now under the reign of the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia and its High Priest Hikusaak. All of what had once been Highland and Dunan to the South, going as far as the northern part of the Toran Republic. About half of the Grassland and the Nameless land to the west were also under its control and, of course, it had control over its ancestral territory of Aronia in the north, but also what had used to be the small nation of Sanadia. Together, those last two territories formed the territory that was the core of the Holy Kingdom, called Circle Valley. This was the dominion of the Holy Kingdom that Noel was traveling to, as he was headed for the capital city, Crystal Valley.

What would have taken normal men months to travel only took him a few days, weeks at the most. He had, after all, the best means of travel possible. That is, a dragon. It was all for the better too, as patience was not something the young dragon knight had ever learned. The flight from the Dragon Den to the Harmonian border was only a few hours ever since they had conquered the City-State and the Dana Region of Toran, even though they called it reclaiming what was once theirs. Noel was still baffled that they hadn't fought back, harder and stronger to reclaim the region, but President Sheena, with his moderates views, had preferred to enter a truce with the Holy Kingdom. So, they had been at peace with them for about a decade now and most citizens had been happy with that, no matter how precarious the balance of peace was. In a way, Noel could understand why they would prefer an illusion of peace rather than more uncontrollable wars destroying their lives once more.

The lengthiest part of his travel was crossing the Dunan Region of Harmonia. With such an extension to the country, it would have made sense to Noel that the central government had relocated the capital to the center of the Kingdom, but, really, what did a 6th tier Dragon Knight knew about politics?

He was currently flying above the South Window province of Harmonia, a fitting name considering it was not only the same name as its biggest city, but also was the southernmost province of Harmonia…. Or at least, it would be until they decided to invade more countries, which Noel believed to only be a matter of time. The Holy Kingdom had once controlled everything on the continent from the north coast to the south coast on the west side of the continent. It would make sense that they would want to reclaim every territory that had ever belonged to them…. And more.

He glanced toward the ground, trying to make sense of where they were exactly. The land was slowly becoming more and more fertile and less like the rocky desert he had grown accustomed to these last five hours. It was the telltale sign that they were approaching civilization. No one in their right mind wanted to live in the Dana Region or the Badlands. Hell, no one wanted to even _be_ in the Badlands. It was technically still Toran's, but, if the Kingdom would have asked for it, the Republic would have just given it to them, having nothing to do with it.

Still, now that he was getting closer and closer to civilization, hopefully the city of South Window if he had made the right trajectory, he would have to soon land and make the rest on foot. Of course, he could just fly right in the city, but he doubted that many would welcome a roaring dragon inside without making a fuss. Even just seeing one of them flying in the sky could be enough to cause a commotion. Those foreigners could be so closed minded when it came to things they weren't used to seeing in their day to day lives. When was the last time that a dragon had caused any damages to a city anyway? Okay, not that long ago, but that was beside the point.

No, if he wanted to have a comfortable bed to sleep in that night, he would have to land a good league away and make the rest of the distance on foot. Considering that it was almost night fall, he was tired, and would likely be walking for another hour; he hoped that there would still be rooms available in the city's inns. What would even be the point of him being courteous enough to not fly in with his dragon if the citizens couldn't even return the favour by having a free room? Oh, yes, it would be their fault for not predicting he would have wanted a room on this one night of the year; city folk should know better.

He landed forward, slightly positioning himself next to the dragon's ear. "Time to go down, Halverich," he said with all the air in his lung to overcome the sound the rushing air was making. The cobalt dragon let out a piercing shriek, agreeing with his master's order. It tilted its whole body and started its decent in a nosedive. The knight reaffirmed his grip around the winged beast's neck. His lips twisted themselves in a rictus that wanted itself to be a smile, albeit a crushed one against the wind.

If one was to ask most dragon knights what they loved the most about their jobs, they would surely answer that it was the flight and traveling across the sky. For Noel, however, it was this moment, the one just before the landing as you rushed full speed toward the ground, seeing it getting closer and closer to you faster than your brain could comprehend as your heart skipped a beat and you felt most of your organs floating in your body, only to come to a full and tranquil stop a mere fraction of second before reaching the ground and landing as peacefully as kid jumping on a bed made of quail's feather. No, nothing could beat that moment for Noel.

He patted Halverich on the back of its head twice before sliding down the dragon's back and touching the firm ground for the first time in hours. He could feel the muscle in front of his legs being stiff from sitting in the same position all flight long. Far from being pleasurable, he decided to stretch and massage his legs first before starting his walk toward the city. He knew better than to just go right ahead in the state; it would only be worse by morning.

As he was doing various stretching exercises, he noticed his dragon looking toward him, head slightly tilted to the right and its right eyes being open slightly larger than the other one. "Are you mocking me?" he asked his dragon. The beast flapped its wings twice and left out a small, but strident shriek as an answer. "Don't lie," replied the knight. "You're bad at it."

Halverich jumped closer to its master. His eyes were now half opened and its breathing twice as fast as it usually would have been. "Hey, you're the one who started it," Noel laughed. "And besides, if you didn't want to be caught in a lie, you just had to be better at it." The dragon narrowed its eyes even more. As for Noel, he laughed at him again and then turned his back to the dragon, wanting to finish his stretching without the mocking eye of his partner. Partner that still wasn't happy to have been made a fool like that. He might have been a mighty roaring beast, but he was a childish and short tempered one.

The knight was finishing stretching his legs when he suddenly felt something cold on the back of his neck. Worst, something _wet_ and cold. His whole body froze, not sure what horrible thing had just landed on his back. Slowly, he brought his right arm around and placed it on his own neck, trying to see just what was there. What came back on his hand was a whitish, gluey, cold, and wet liquid. He knew that liquid all too well. "Are you kidding me?" he asked no one in particular as he turned around to face the cobalt dragon. The beast eyes were practically twinkling under the setting sun, small huffs and puffs coming out of its mouth. The damn lizard was laughing at him.

"What are you? Three months old?" His eyes were staring straight in the other's. He could have understood such behaviour from a dragonling freshly hatched from its egg, but not from a full adult one like Halverich was. He felt like a father disappointed in his child. Although, this situation was more akin to a housewife finding out that her cat had just urinated in her favourite pair of shoes.

"When we get back home, I'm telling Millia that you fancy Thrash." The dragon immediately became agitated, flapping its wings, jumping around and making small shrieks in every possible intonation a male dragon could do. Noel was pretty sure that every dragon in the Den already knew that Halverich had a thing for the captain's dragon, but the cobalt seemed to have been oblivious to it and Noel was fully intending on using that little bit of information against him. "Well, next time you'll think twice before spitting on me," he told Halverich with a stern look.

Finally, the dragon calmed itself, but didn't look particularly happy about it. Like a spoiled child, he turned quickly on himself, waving his tail around before he jumped and flew away. Noel kept staring at him, a bit lost as to what had happened. By the time he snapped out of it, Halverich was already far away. "Hey! Come back here!" screamed the knight. "For God's sake. You're a real child sometimes, you know that?" Well, it wasn't like he would have been with him for much longer. For now, Noel would just let him brood in his corner of the sky as he slept on a comfortable – he hoped – inn's bed. But, first, he had to do the one hour walk toward South Window.

* * *

><p><strong>Freja<strong>

Oh, no! Oh, no-no-no! She was late! Oh, so late! Why anyone hadn't wakened her up when the sun was already past its zenith? Really, was it so hard to simply break into an innocent woman's room and wake her up when it was obvious that she was still sleeping in the middle of the day? Sometimes, one could really not trust its neighbours in order to help out!

It was in a feeling of panic that Freja was hasting through the streets of Greenhill in order to reach the rather large Rune Shop where she was working. Well, if she was still working there, that is. With her numerous accidents and now her getting there late, she would not be surprised if the Rune Master would decide to simply fire her…. Literally. There had been rumours of people being set on fire after the Master of the rune shop had enough of them and Freja didn't want to try out to see if it was true of not. She just hoped that today hadn't been the last straw to break the Master's patience toward her.

Without wasting any more time than she needed, the purple haired woman had grabbed one of the long multilayer dresses that she owned and put it on, not caring if it was too warm for the season, and even less thinking about the fact that a woman in a hurry couldn't run properly with a dress like that.

After the same routine give or take almost every day, she should have learned to pay more attention to her surrounding, or at the very least buy clothing more suited for her, but no. All of that had completely evaded her. She was usually too absorbed in her studies and experiments to pay attention to trivial things like the clothing she had on her

Every day was always the same thing: Wake up, run to work, trip once or twice along the way (as pretty and respectable as those clothes were, they really weren't suited to run down the streets), arrive late at work, get a scolding from the elder, juggle with some Rune Crystals, embed them in some customers, go back home, lay down on bed and fall asleep. After that, you just had to rinse and repeat. All days were all the same for her, but truthfully, she didn't care. In fact, she just loved that little routine of hers! It just made her days off even more enjoyable.

However, today would be a very different day for Freja and her simple life. About midway through the road to her job, while climbing the hill next to the most popular inn of the city, she tripped. Oh, of course, this was nothing new for her. She had tripped there numerous times in the past. What was different on this one occasion was that when her handbag reached the ground, instead of just sliding a little in front of her like usual, it opened itself and down the hill went three Rune Crystals!

"I…am…so dead," she whispered under her breath as she saw the three little balls running down the road. It's not that they were anything special, it was only two common water runes and one of wind, but those things still quite expensive; close to a three month salary. She couldn't afford to lose them! A single water rune could come up to seven thousand Potch. In other words, that was almost fifteen thousand Potch rolling down the hill. It would take her almost a whole years worth of salary in order to pay that back; three with the interest!

Oh, the old lady at the shop would probably not want to wait that long to be repaid and would simply sell her away as a slave or something! Did they still have human slaves anywhere? She wasn't sure... Not since those Kobolds had generously offered to become human's property anyway. Perhaps some rich noble back in Crystal Valley would prefer a human girl as a slave rather than one of those sub-humans.

Oh! But it wasn't time to think about that; she had runes to catch. It would be better to be 3hours late than be missing three runes! Getting up, she brushed the dirt off her dress, picked it up in her hand, lifting in it order to give her more mobility and off she went, running after those crystals. If anyone was to see, and considering that she was in the middle of a busy street, they did, they would all think that she had finally lost the last of her mental abilities. Truthfully, at that very moment, it wasn't so far from the truth.

As she arrived down the hill, she let go of her dress and went down on all four in order to find the crystals that would be in the tall grass by now. They couldn't have gotten very far, now could they? After close to twenty minutes of looking around for them, she came face to face with the fence that separated the main road from the forest….

It couldn't have gone in there, now… could it? No, no way…. Oh, who was she kidding? Of course it had. Now, if she hadn't lost the race to the Runic Teaching Position at the New Leaf Academy after that slutty white-haired woman had left some years ago, she would have had access to the Academy's private library, done some research, and befriended a ghost or two that would have went looking for them in her stead! But, no, she had lost it because she had refused to use anything else but Water Rune! What a silly reason that was.

Everyone had a more affinity with a certain type of runes and it just so happened that hers was with the water one. Why would she try to master the other ones when she was more than competent with this one? Moreover, the water rune was the most useful of all the other runes; it could heal people! No matter how badly hurt you were, you only had to have a good water rune user nearby and you would be as good as new in no time. A master with it could even create a field that would stop any other form of magic from being used. With powers like that, it was her firm belief that no one had to learn any other kind of runic magic but the water elemental one.

But now was not the time for complaining or for reminiscent. She had to go and find those three rune crystals. It was with a bow of the head and a long sigh that Freja crawled under the fence (because climbing over it never had even came across her mind) and made her way in the forest in order to fine _at least_ one of the crystals. If not… Well, she could always hope a griffon would eat her.

In fact, at this point, it probably would have been better if such a thing happened to her. Without a doubt, today was the worst day of her life. Her dress was all dirty, she was pretty sure she had ripped the bottom of it on the fence while she was crawling under, all those trees looked the same and to make the whole experience annoying to just plain unpleasant, the closest thing she had found to a rune was a little white mushroom! Not ever a toadstool! Nope! A regular, plain, and boring white mushroom that she could even eat if she felt like it. At least a poisonous mushroom would have made this little trip in the forest worthwhile.

She knew that if one was to mix toadstool's juice with PomPom fur in a Doremi Elf's hat, she could make a good catalysis to help the applications of Runes, but, unfortunately, she had never been able to get her hands on all the ingredients. All she had was the Doremi's hat and then again, she wasn't sure if it was from one of them or simply a human midget... They all looked the same to her.

She kept rummaging through all the leaves, branch and roots that were obviously leagued against her, still trying to find a trace of her water runes, or even, at the very least, the wind one! Anything, really, would make it all better. Not perfect since she was already late and would get in trouble no matter what, but the more runes she could bring back, the better her general health would be.

It was then, while she was bending over, busy pushing some little bush's leaves apart to see if her crystals had rolled there, that she heard a male voice coming from her left. She straightened up and looked in the direction that the voice was coming from. There was a youth that didn't seem more than half her age, dressed in clothes she had never seen before. They were mainly of deep warm colors with various shapes painted on them.

To his side was a vile monster that seemed to come from the unnatural breeding of a dragon with a mare. Furthermore, an unpleasant odour, a mix of spices and sweat of someone who hadn't washed in awhile, seemed to be rising from the pair of them. However, all that didn't have any importance at all, for the boy was holding a water rune in his hand.

"I asked you if this was yours," he asked her for the third time, eyebrows slightly knitted together. While Freja actually understood what he had said this time, she didn't answer him anymore. Instead, she kept her blue eyes on the young boy, her mouth half opened. She just couldn't believe her luck at that moment. Who else than her would have enough luck to lose something, go in the depth of the forest to find it and instead stumble upon a weirdly dressed, funny smelling stranger riding what would appeared to be a wild beast? Oh, such luck! Such fortune! Such Providence! Maybe in the end she wouldn't have to die today. This was rather nice. Dying seemed so… unpleasant. She couldn't understand all those men (and women) who would willingly go to war. What kind of humans would be crazy enough to purposely risk their lives like that? They had Subhumans to do that for them! Like those Dwarves! She heard that they would never die and just kept resurrecting! They were perfect for war and hard labour like that! They should send them to die instead of humans! Even those Third Class Citizen liked to be sent there, she didn't quite know why, but they were stupid, so it was not something to worry much about.

"Can you understand me, or is it that Harmonian can't even speak the common tongue? Even stupid Ironheads can speak it." Only at that moment did the woman snap out of it. Before the boy could say one more word, she rushed toward him and grabbed the rune out of his hands. The boy fell on the ground, taken by surprise from the small woman's push. Freja didn't care. She lifted the blue orb to the sky, trying to find a ray of light passing through the branches and leaves above her head in order to examine the rune better. She doubted it would have broken from just a roll down the hill like that, runes were tough, but she couldn't take any risk.

"Well, don't you thank me, eh," the boy grunted as he tried to get himself up from the ground. He was covered in dirt, but that didn't change anything from his previous dirty appearances. Freja had no idea who he was or where he was coming from, but by all logic, he wasn't a first class citizen or even a second class like her and so she didn't have any reason to thank him, or even speak to him. It had been his duty to serve her and return her precious rune. He should simply be grateful that she wasn't reporting him to the authorities for dressing in such an ugly and filthy way and, so, without as much as a look, she took her leave from him, happy to have found her rune!

….Wait a moment, one rune? What about the other two? She turned on her heel and faced the boy once more. His eyebrows were as high as eyebrows could be; his mouth twisted in a nervous grin and his eyes not quite sure where to look. A normal person would have simply thought that he was confused about the woman's behaviour, but Freja? Oh, she simply thought otherwise. "Where's the other two?" she finally spoke to the boy. Seeing that the woman could speak did nothing to reassure him of her strange behaviour. Perhaps it even made him more suspicious of her. "There were two water runes and one of wind; yet, here I am standing with only a water one! Where did you put the other two? Did you steal them, thief!"

The boy took a step back, bumping into his mount. "Wh-what are you talking about? I didn't steal them! I returned it to you!" he defended himself, flailing his arms in the air.

"Only so I wouldn't suspect you from stealing the other two! Thief!" She placed her hands on her thighs and took a step forward. She didn't like thieves like him. Always lurking around, trying to hurt other people and make them poorer.

"That's crazy! You're crazy!" he shouted. "I just walked on one and then you appeared in front of me looking for something so I thought that it was yours! I didn't steal anything! Stop screaming thief for the spirit's sake!" He stomped the ground with his foot.

Freja followed his order and stopped screaming that he was a thief. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he wasn't a thief. Maybe he really had just found the rune while walking in the forest… but that would raise another question. "What were you doing in the forest then, if you are not a thief?" After all, it was well known that thieves hunted in the forest and also lived and hide there. No one came into the forest without any reason. "If you are not a thief, then you must be a rapist!" She came to the conclusion.

The boy slapped his hand on his forehead. "Woman, shut up!" Obviously, he had enough of her strange behaviour, but Freja was not in the mood to listen to someone, especially someone who wanted her harm. And so, she refused her previous screaming, but this time, it wasn't 'thief' that she was screaming, but 'rapist'. It was only a matter of time now before a guard heard her scream and came to her rescue. Both of them knew that, although 'rescue' was not on each other's mind. As she screamed and yelled and shouted, she saw the boy running around his vile beast, no doubt to run away before someone arrested him.

She turned around, now facing the direction of the city; her voice would carry further that way. She had to warn everyone that a rapist was hiding in their forest and that, worst, he was getting away. Before she had the time, however, she felt something hard and cold against the back of her head, and suddenly, she found herself embracing the ground as light around her slowly faded away. The boy was standing above her, holding something long in his hand, she couldn't quite make anything out of it. All that she knew was that it was long and it was red.

* * *

><p><strong>Jacob<strong>

Just like he had predicted, the other was blocking all of his blows. No matter how much he trained and how he improved, it always seemed like there was no way that he could ever achieve the same skills as his teacher. It wasn't that he didn't listen to all of the blonde's tips, tricks, and instruction, but rather that the difference in their skill seemed to have been as much as day and night.

Once, he had seen an opening and he had attacked for it with all of his strength and speed, but Yoakim had blocked it nonetheless and just like that, his victory was gone. All that was left to him was a striking pain where his brass knuckles had dug into his hands from their contact with the other male's broadsword.

To add insult to injury, it seemed as if his teacher was not even paying attention to their training. He had always felt like a PomPom going against a dragon when he fought with his teacher, but at least the male had always given him attention and various instructions meant to get him better, but, today, it was as if Yoakim just didn't care for him in the slightest. His movements were slow, his eyes were shifty and his mouth was as closed as it could be, not willing to give him criticism. He wasn't sure what was worst, not having anything good said about him, or not having anything said at all. No, that was a lie, he knew full well which one of the two he preferred, and, really, it wasn't as if Yoakim had ever said anything bad about him… well, not in some months, at least.

Still, even though the blonde didn't seem to pay him any attention, it continued to seem that it didn't change anything about the vast difference in their skills. Jacob respected and hated the man for that. He respected his skill as a warrior, but hated the fact that someone was so much better than him. When he had first met the blonde knight, Jacob was still a cocky boy of sixteen. He had been told many times ever since he had joined the order that he was a prodigy, one that was only seen once in a generation! The last one to have been as skilled as him was the Bishop Sasarai, and that had been almost fifteen years in the past. Being compared to such a legend as Sasarai of the True Earth was like adding oil on the fire for the boy's ego; an ego that was crushed the moment he had meet Yoakim Windamier.

He wasn't much older than him, maybe ten years, but oh so much more skilled with a sword and even with magic, something that the young boy, while never ever getting close to admit, was no good at all. He had an earth rune embedded on his right hand, but he could barely use the most basic spells with it. If he was supposed to be a prodigy, what was his teacher? The incarnation of a True Rune? ...probably.

"Jacob. You're distracted."

The voice of his teacher made him snap out of his thoughts. His mouth twisted slightly in annoyance. How could Yoakim tell him that he was distracted when he, himself, also was? He shifted his sight toward the ground, not wanting to look at the other man's face. "So are you," he replied.

Yoakim didn't speak, but he could feel his eyes looking up and down. His teacher never had been a man of many words, but he never had to. His eyes were powerful enough to put him in his place, whether that was on a podium or mucking the stables, depending on the reason of the look. "I'm not," the blonde finally said. "I'm preoccupied, there's a difference." Was there really? Jacob doubted of it. A distracted man was a distracted man, no matter the reason. Yoakim just didn't want to admit to it. He would have pointed it out, but he didn't feel like being punished. He could take a beating, no problem, but the knight always had more… creative ways of punishing him. Once, he had forced him to dine with the Kobolds' servant. He hadn't said a word to his teacher for a week after that.

Still, all in all, he could never bring himself to completely hate him. There always was something there, in the back of his mind, telling him just how great the man standing in front of him was and that he ought to make him proud. Really, all that the boy ever did in a day was aimed at making his teacher proud, a feast that he felt he never achieved. Yet, that didn't stop him from trying. He had to make the man proud. Just the thought of it, of Yoakim being proud of him, was enough to push him over his own limits in a renewed fire in the pit of his stomach.

It was his need of approval from an older man. In fact, everything about his attitude could be explained from his early family situation. Born the son of a peasant, he wasn't supposed to have any future. His father was always out in the field, not caring for him in the slightest as he was the youngest born, preferring to care for his eldest son, a man that had taken a love for farming like him… well, more so gardening, but their father had never seemed to see any difference in that. Even their eldest sister received more praised from their father since she had studied swordplay with some master in Kanakan, went to Zelant in order to get the best armour in the world, became a Zexen Knight, then one of the Six Great Generals of Toran.. Her latest letter said that she had been promoted to a Queen's knight in some country called Falena, wherever that was. Knowing his sister, she had probably never left Kanakan and was getting drunk days and nights, but their father seemed to take everything she told them for the truth.

And so, that was how his father spent most of Jacob's growing days - telling the young boy that he wasn't as skilled as his sister to become a great knight or as talented as his brother to become a great farmer to provide food for his family. One day, the boy had had enough. He placed some of his most precious things, trinkets, really, into a bag and left the house in the middle of the night. He knew that he was strong and that, while he doubted he would make a 'Queen's Knight' like his sister proclaimed herself to be, he was confident he could at least make a good foot soldier. As fortune had it, he was even more talented than that and had soon been approached by people inquiring if he had it in him to become a Bishop, the pride and fame of Harmonia. The only thing was that he wasn't blonde, but that could always be overlooked when the talent was there; just like how Sasarai had brown hair.

From that moment on, he had trained days in and nights out into achieving perfection in combat, leadership, and political knowledge and, for a while, really thought that he had achieved that perfection. Now that he thought of it, that might just have been why he had been sent as far south as North Window to train with Yoakim; to put some humility and a reality check in him. At first, he hadn't liked it, even rebelled a little, but, slowly, he had gotten used to it. Now if only he could get the knight to praise him a little, things would really be good. There had been a faint moment of hope when he had been made second-in-command half a year ago but he had quickly noticed that things hadn't really changed. He just had more responsibilities and less time to sleep now.

"What's on your mind?" he asked after he had finally found the courage to ask the question. He never knew just how much familiarity he could use with the blonde and always was afraid of overstepping his boundaries.

"Nothing you should worry yourself about, Jacob," replied his master. Jacob glanced in his direction, hoping that by staring long enough in silence, the man would breach the awkwardness by telling him exactly what had been on his mind. Even in moment like this when he was looking at his teacher, Jacob felt inferior to the man. Yoakim was standing taller than him by close to half a foot, making the boy feel small in comparison. Furthermore, the knight had the blonde hair so eulogized by the Harmonian population. His nose was straight, if a little long, which contrasted with Jacob's own crooked nose that had been broken countless times. Even his blue eyes were going well with his light-coloured hair. At that moment, Jacob wasn't sure if he was feeling admiration, envy, or pure and simple jealousy toward the older male.

The knight went on. "It's nothing important. If it was, I'd tell you. You are the second-in-command after all."

"Only in name," scoffed the boy, turning his head to the right.

"That's not true, but if you are unhappy with your title, I know a soldier or two who would be happy to have your room."

"What? No!" almost screamed Jacob. Not having to sleep in the same room as fifty other soldiers had been the best thing about his promotion. And how was he supposed to impress the other male if he got himself demoted? No, it was better to stay in his position. Perhaps he wasn't as useless as he so often thought, and let's be truthful; having the ability to barks orders at older soldiers was a guilty pleasure of his. "It just sometime feels like you've been ordered to promote me, not that I earned it," he admitted.

Yoakim shook his head. "If so it was, you'd have been promoted the year you arrived. I seem to recall you shovelling horse manure for at least a year back then." A small smile appeared on the knight's face. Jacob pondered whether it was a genuine one or one of mockery. It still felt good to hear that he had earned the place though. That almost sounded like praise to him. Often times, he was too harsh toward himself. "I'd still wish you'd be better at combat, though."

"Hey! I am! I'm better than almost everyone here!" exclaimed the young man. He might not have been anywhere near his teacher's skills, but he knew he could beat pretty much every other soldier that was stationed there. If Yoakim wouldn't praise him, he still couldn't say he was no good!

"Are you?" asked the other, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes. I am." Replied the youth.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Prove it." Before Jacob had time to process what Yoakim had just said, the knight had raised a hand toward him. A greenish light appeared above his hand and at that moment Jacob knew exactly what was coming. As fast as he could, he tried to chant a _Vengeful Child_ spell using his earth rune, trying to block Yoakim's lightning spell, whatever it was. He couldn't tell them apart, all that he knew was that they all really hurt no matter which one it was. Unfortunately, he hadn't the time to even chant half of his spell when a lightning bolt coming from the other man darted toward him.

In a last moment of desperation, he tried to dodge the spell, taking a quick step to the left, but it was in vain. The lighting struck him on his right arm, sending a jolt through all of his body. He bit his lips, trying not to scream at the pain. He would _not_ scream, not In front of his teacher, not in front of anyone. The taste of copper soon filled his mouth as his teeth dug deeper in his flesh, letting blood flow out in his month. A smell akin to roasted ham surrounded him. He knew full well that it was coming out of him. Burnt flesh.

He dropped on his knees, panting. The spell was long over, but he could still feel its effect in his body, a sort of numbness like when you sat on your leg for too long, only it was in his whole body and the pain was nothing compared to it. "Y-you cheated," he said once he was finally able to speak. His eyes glued on the ground, too weak to move his head up in order to look at Yoakim.

"You said you were better than most of the soldiers here. I know quite a few who could have protected themselves in time, or at the very least sustain the blow," his teacher said, his voice eerily calm. A small doubt came into Jacob's mind, wondering if Yoakim wasn't enjoying that moment, seeing him in pain.

"I didn't say anything about rune magic," protested the youth.

"You said combat. It's part of combat. What if you come to fight against a group of mages?"

"I wouldn't fight against them!"

"So you'd be a coward and run away?"

"I'd never run away!"

"I see. So you'd be a coward and surrender yourself."

"No! I… I'd…"

"Get up. Today's lesson is over. It's not a good day for training."

Jacob stayed silent and on the ground for what seemed like an hour in his mind. When he finally gathered the courage to stand up, he didn't speak or look at his master, ashamed of himself. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than run away hide in a hole and bang his head against a brick wall until death followed.

His teacher spoke again. "Don't hate yourself. You weren't awful. Like I said, it's not a good day for training." That brought a half smile on the youth's lips, but he still couldn't look at the other. "Go relax until evening, then come to my chambers. We need to talk." Before Jacob could ask any questions on what Yoakim wanted to talk about, the blonde knight was already walking away, his sword sheathed on his right side, standing tall and straight above everyone else on the training grounds. The commander's posture would have made an oak jealous of him.

Jacob had no idea what Yoakim wanted to talk about, but he figured that he would find out soon enough. For now, he was hungry and in dire need of a bath. He started to walk in the direction of his room where he could get a clean change of clothes before heading to the bathhouse.

While he had never seen North Window before moving in, many people had told him that the whole place had been completely destroyed about thirty years ago. No one was quite sure what had happened since no survivors could ever be found, but the rumours were plenty and none of them joyous. That was probably the reason why no one had ever tried to rebuild the village until the City-State/Highland war ten years later. A small group of rebel composed mainly from Muse's survivors had tried to use it to fight against Solon Jhee's army, but they had quickly been defeated. It was a battle that Jacob had often studied. It was a textbook example of bad strategy and disorganization. He had no idea who their strategist and leader had been, but they had signed up their doom when they took control of the castle and hide inside of it.

Now, however, the castle had been rebuilt by Kiba Windamier, Yoakim's uncle, after he saw the potential of it. It was near impossible to take if one knew how to properly use its location on the tip of a peninsula. It was now a bustling town and an impregnable fortress. The walls surrounding it were high, going many feet up. It was said that when the town had first been built, its wall didn't come a fifth to what they were now. Each rampart could hold many archers, making an enemy approach very dangerous and deadly for the poor souls that were placed on the front lines. On each of the four corners were towers going up even higher. Jacob didn't like to climb on the top of them. He wasn't the kind to have vertigo usually, but going that high gave it to him no matter what. Jacob just couldn't understand how those Mentor riders could do it, flying on their giant insects in the sky, even higher than those towers. Just the thought of it was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Most of the buildings in the city were made mainly of bricks, although you could find the odd one made of wood every now and then. They were all encased one on each other, making almost every house sharing a wall or two with a neighbour. Yes, the city was packed, but it only made it the livelier.

Many trees had been planted all around town, decorating the side of the roads and creating many parks. Even the barracks on the west side of the city looked like it was in the middle of a forest with how much green there was. It was said that Eliza Windamier, Kiba's wife, had asked that many trees would be planted so she could relax in the city whenever she came down to visit. The General's wife was known to have a frail health and was loved by many in the general's army, so they had planted triple what had been asked of them in her honour.

In a very strange way, all the green reminded Jacob of his home town, a little no name village in the northwest of Harmonia, close to the old Grassland border before the Holy Kingdom annexed half of it. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not to be reminded of that village; he had left it behind, not wanting to ever go back, but he did feel a sort of nostalgia every time he thought about it. He wondered if his family knew what he was doing now. Not many news from the capital often reached his village and, even if word of the new bishop-to-come Jacob ever reached them, he doubted they would think that that Jacob was the same one they had for a son. They were probably too busy fawning over all the fake letters his sister sent them to actually make the link between the names.

The real pride of North Window, however, was its castle. Standing tall and strong at the north end of the city, its highest tower reached even higher than the four corner towers on the wall. Jacob had never went to the very top of it, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to do so without throwing up. Yoakim's chambers were near the top of it and every time Jacob had to go there, he would always do everything he could not to look through one of the windows, even if that meant sitting in a very awkward position.

His own room also was in that tower, but some floors lower. The floors in between were reserved for special guests coming to North Window and were most of the time empty. As for the floors under his rooms, they were mainly filled with other various soldiers' rooms, barracks, training rooms, and the likes. In fact, most of the western side of the castle was reserved for the soldiers and very few civilians ever went there.

Something that always amazed him was how the east wing of the castle was open to civilians. Many rooms were used by merchants to be used as their shops. There even was a restaurant taking most of the second floor that fed both civilians and soldiers, as well as tourists and high ranking members of the Harmonian government whenever they dared coming that much south of the country. It truly was a magnificent city. Not as pretty as Crystal valley had been, nor as luxurious, but certainly more lively and Jacob preferred that. He didn't have anything to do with pompous people and old scholars. Especially when his favourite place in the entire castle was the tavern. Well, after the training grounds, of course.

As Jacob walked to his room, he saw many people he knew. He had always been a social man, but ever since his promotion, it would have seemed like his number of acquaintances had tripled. There was Robert called the strong, shopping for a new set of armour. Then there was Henry, a slender lad who was always trying to pick up a new girl whenever he could. Then there was Guy, who was always running around bringing newspaper to whoever had a potch to spare. Then there was Mulder, a man with skin as black as night. As a third grade citizen, he couldn't work in many places but as a kitchen's servant, and so he was usually tasked with killing, plucking, and skinning the chickens for the cooks. Then there was Loubella, a travelling woman from the island nation with hair of fire who had bosom so large that men would drown in it if they hadn't already drown in all the skin she loved showing. Then there was Jaimi, a kid no more than ten, but whom you couldn't trust unless you wanted him to steal your money. Then there was Karin the beautiful, training days and nights to show she was as good as any other knight in the castle; and she was. So many different people, all living in the same city. Truly something you wouldn't have seen in Crystal valley.

There was one final person Jacob met that day as he was heading to his room, or rather, when he entered it. Sitting on his bed was a boy around his age, an inch or two shorter. He always had a little smirk on that face of his, which, paired with his small turned up nose, always made people suspicious of him. Most of the times, rightly so.

"Well, there you are!" the boy exclaimed with his usual nasal voice. "Been waiting for you all day."

"I was training," explained Jacob.

"Your life must be so boring if all you do is train all day." Mocked the boy.

"Your life must be so boring if all you do is wait for me all day," he replied dryly. He removed his sweaty shirt and threw it toward his bed, wishing that it would fall on Marc. He liked the guy, he probably was his closest friend, but that didn't make him less annoying. Unfortunately, Marc dodged the shirt quite easily.

The brunette crossed his arms. "I've been waiting for you _because_ my life is not boring. Camellia's been looking for me all day! I had to hide here, you see. It was either that or murder."

"I'm sure you couldn't kill her even if you tried."

"Who said I'd be the one doing the killing? I'd be doing the dying!" he said, throwing his arms in the hair and letting his back fall to the bed.

Jacob sighed. "What did you do to her this time?"

Marc took a few moment before answering, choosing to hum instead. By the time he had decided to talk, Jacob had already stripped naked, put a changed of pants on without bothering with any underwear, and was now looking for a proper shirt in the few clothes he had. "Well, you remember the wine cargo I was supposed to deliver from South Window?" resumed Marc.

"No." answered Jacob, not caring in the slightest about a wine cargo. Marc didn't seem to care either.

"Well, there was a wine cargo from South Window and by the time it reached North Window… Well, let's say there was a case or two missing."

That caught Jacob's attention, who quickly turned on his feet, glaring toward his friend. "You drank two whole case of wine? No wonder she wants to kill you!"

"What? No! Are you crazy?" He sat himself up again on the bed, looking toward Jacob. "I wouldn't do that!" He stopped. The room fell silent for five seconds as both boys looked at each other, silently fighting to see who would be the one to yield first. Marc did. "I sold it on the black market."

Jacob dropped the clothes he was holding. He couldn't believe that his friend had done that. Worst, he couldn't believe he had just told him he had done that. "You do realize that as the second-in-command, I have to report you, right?" He rubbed his forehead with his right hand, not believing Marc's stupidity.

"Ooooooor…. As the second-in-command, you could decide to forgive me and not report me?" Marc flashed Jacob a large smile full of teeth that was as fake as could be.

"Or I could report you," echoed Jacob with the same dry voice he had greeted his friend. Marc's smile faded into a frown and his eyes grew larger and larger as he tried to force a tear out of them, in vain. "Stop that", continued Jacob. "You look retarded."

"I'll stop when you say you won't report me. You'll have to suffer through my retarded face until then."

Jacob sighed for the second time since he had entered his room. "Fine, I won't report you as long as you don't talk to me about it anymore."

"Yay!" Marc cheered, raising his arms to the sky and letting his back fall on the bed again.

"You're an idiot."

"Yes I am! But you love me for that!"

"I think it's more like you drained me of all my energy and I don't have the means to fight you off anymore."

"Whatever makes you sleep better at night. Talking about sleeping," he straightened up again, "I'm sleeping here tonight, okay? Don't want Camellia to kill me in my bed in the middle of the night, and your bed's large enough for three people anyway."

"No."

"What if I bring a girl?"

"No."

"What if she's very beautiful?"

"Still no."

"And has a sister?"

"No."

"Who's her twin?"

"Again n-" Jacob stopped, considering it for a second, "Are they blondes?" he asked Marc.

"No, brunettes," the boy answered.

"Then no."

"Gaaaah. You're boring. But I'm still sleeping here."

"Fine, whatever." Jacob grabbed a random shirt; a simple white one with the Harmonian flag sewed on the left arm and started to walk toward the door. The fastest he'd be out of there, the slower he would go crazy.

"Hey! Where are you going? You can't leave me alone here again! You just came back!" Marc protested as he got up from the bed and tried to rush after his friend, albeit without passing the door.

"Going for a bath. I stink. You should take baths too once in a while, by the way. You should come with me." He knew that Marc wouldn't. Camellia wasn't passed entering the men's bath to attack him. Just like how he had predicted, Marc didn't follow after him and instead closed the door

Jacob walked the way from his room in the tower to the bathhouse on the east wing of the castle. He had his shirt on one shoulder and a towel on the other, walking through the castle bare chest. If one was to ask, he would tell them that he was heading for the bath and just didn't want to wear clean clothes while being sweaty, but in all truth, he just liked to show his body off, a slight hint of his previous cockiness that had never really died.

As he arrived to the bath, he was pleasantly surprised to find them almost empty. His talk with Marc had him take longer than usual, making him arrive after the bathing rush when most soldiers came back from their trainings. He removed his clothes and slid into the warm and steaming water. He didn't know how they could keep the water so hot all day long, but he was not one to complain about it. The water helped all the muscles in his body relax. He hadn't noticed how soar he had been until now. Yoakim had given him a good beating during their training that day, especially with that last incantation of his. And to think that the knight was not even a master of magic…. He dreaded the day he would have to face someone who was.

He examined the spot on his right arm where the spell had hit him. A large bruise going from red to brown to blue to purple was there with the skin around it slightly burnt. Sliding more under the water, he told himself that he really had to train more in the magic arts or else someone would end up killing him with a spell one day too early.

With his body almost all submerge in the water but his head and the heat of it rising to his head, he felt himself slowly drifting off. His meeting with Yoakim wasn't for several more hours and he wouldn't be the first man to fall asleep inside the bath, so he didn't resist the sleep that was gradually pulling him away. Soon, everything was black and silent. There was absolutely nothing, no one. And then, suddenly, faintly, a small light appeared in the far distance. Silver sparkles, growing larger every second. He was standing in front of it, but many, many leagues away, in an open field of darkness. The silvery light in the distance kept growing as it was approaching him. He wanted to run away. He knew that he had too. Whatever it was, there was no way he could defeat it, whatever it was. Yet, his legs didn't want to move. He had to stay and face it, whatever 'it' was.

Soon enough, the thing arrived to him. He couldn't see what it was for the light was too bright. He felt enveloped in the light and transported somewhere else, in a room as white as the previous field had been dark. Not far from him, no more than ten steps were two burning flames as dark as an abyss without ends, staring at him like demon's eyes.

A voice coming from the flame rose. "Jacob-Jacob!" it said in a voice that was not quite like that of a man and not quite like that of a woman either. "Why-why?" it asked.

Jacob didn't know what to say, what to answer. He stood there, perplexed. "Why what?" he finally dared asking.

"Why-are-why-you-are-alive-you-alive?"

"Speak Clearly!" Yelled the boy to the flames. Its voice seemed to be echoing from everywhere. It troubled him more than the fact that it was asking him why he was alive. The two flames then grew bigger, and bigger, enveloping him and burning him.

"You must choose!"

Jacob woke up in surprise as water flowed inside is nose. He turned around to reach out of the bath as he coughed and choked on the water that had entered his lung. The few men around the bath gave him a look of curiosity and some of them dared a chuckle or two. None left their places to help him. Jacob was supposed to be some great prodigy, he could help himself.

Once he was done choking on the bath's water, he threw them all a dark look and got out of the marble tub. His mood was even worse than when he had first entered the bath and at the moment, he was quite happy that he had brought clothes with him and didn't have to return to his chambers and deal with Marc. Not like he had the time, anyway, as he realized when he passed next to a window. His nap had taken longer than he would have liked and the sun was already starting to hide itself on the other side of the earth. He wouldn't be late for his appointment with Yoakim, but he surely wouldn't be early anymore.

He retraced his steps back to the tower where his room was, walking through all the dark halls of the castle that were barely used, taking stairs that only the most curious servants knew about and even through a room that had never been completely finished being rebuilt. He soon reached his floor, but didn't stop there as Yoakim's was several floors higher. When he had first ascended there three years ago, he had been out of breath for what had seemed like an hour. Even now that he had gotten used to the climb, he still felt out of breath when he reached Yoakim's floor. He wished that someone could make a cage or something and lift him up to the Commander's window. Wouldn't that be marvellously practical?

He stood in front of Yoakim's door, a large, red oak wood door, larger and fancier than every other door in the castle. Even his damn door was better than everything else. Yoakim probably even had rose scented shit wrapped in silk ribbons. Jacob straightened up his shirt and pants, making sure there was no apparent wrinkles on them and knocked on the door. It took about three seconds before he heard the knight's voice telling him to come in. The brunette pressed the handle and opened the door, walked inside the room, and closed it behind him.

It was actually two rooms. The one they were in served as an office and there was another, smaller one in the back that the knight slept in. Yoakim's office room represented the man well. It was simple, yet elegant and powerful. Five large bookshelves were standing against the northern wall, all full of books from around the world all written in various languages. Most of them were on war and battle strategies, but you could also find history volumes, encyclopaedias on animals and plants, myths and legends from around the world, and even children's bedtime story and cook books. Jacob didn't know how much of those books the other male had read, but he wouldn't have passed him to have read every single one on war strategies.

Near the bookshelves was a small chess table with two chairs on each side. Jacob had often played there with Yoakim… although he wasn't sure if it could be called "playing". It was more a form of training than anything considering the knight would force him to drop down and do push ups every time he lost one of his pieces, the amount of them changing depending on the piece that had been taken. In all fairness, Yoakim would do the same when it came his. His ideas being that every commander should feel the pain of losing a member of his forces, even the smallest grunt. Jacob could see his point, but didn't really agree with it. At least chess helped straighten his mind and gave him some more muscles.

Against the south wall were two leather couches, forming an L around a low table where a pot of tea and two cups were sitting. In the back of the room, centered in front of the western wall, was a large desk made of dark woods. It always had various books, scrolls and documents splayed on it, nothing that Jacob had even taken the time to look closer on. They were probably all things that the commander had to attend too, nothing he should concern himself with and, so, he never did.

"Sit," said Yoakim, who was coming out from his bedroom's door behind his desk. He pointed toward the couches where the pot of tea had been placed. He had probably ordered a servant to bring some for them and was now a left over from before. The young bishop-in-training sat down where he had been indicated. Straight, proper, with his hands on his lap. He kept his eyes on the blonde knight as he walked to his desk. He grabbed two of three books and returned them to his bookshelves. "Name me the current regions of Harmonia, the administrative city of each, as well as the name of their governor." Yoakim asked, still looking through the books.

That was a question with answers he knew. He _had_ to know it. It was the basic of anyone who wanted to have anything to do with the Harmonian politics. The country had grown a lot these past years. Some old man had seen it tripled in size since they were young.

"Circle Valley, the earth of the Holy Kingdom, with the capital Crystal Valley; ruled by the High Priest Hikusaak himself.

The Wildland, to the west, covering the territories that used to be Grasslanders and part of the Nameless Lands; administrative city: Caleria, governed by whomever the merchant guild sees fit, currently Jamir Forell.

Higheast, south of Circle Valley composed of the ancient Highland as well as the territory that used to belong to the City of Rockland. Administrative city: L'Renouille, governed by the Blight family since Jowy Blight ascended the throne and surrendered Highland to Harmonia, gaining a royal pardon and first class status. Current Governor, Pilika Blight, his daughter.

Kyaro-Muse, composed of the old Muse territory and western part of old Highland. The second largest region of Harmonia after Circle Valley. Administrative city: Kyaro. Governors: The Atreides family granted first class citizenship since Jowy Blight was part of it before marrying into the old royal family of Highland.

Greenhill, in the south western part of Harmonia, administrative city: Greenhill city. Governed by the Director of the New Leaf Academy, the second best school in the country. Current governor and director is Ingrid Kinth.

South Window, the southernmost division. Situated in the old South Window region as well as what used to be the north of the Toran Republic. Administrative city is South Window. Current governor: empty since Wilfred Varns' death last month. New governor will be voted by the end of the year and the current seat. Until a new one has been voted, the one in charge is…well, you."

He looked toward Yoakim, pondering as to why he had to recite all of that. He had served as an instructor for history, politics and the likes ever since Jacob had moved to North Window, and the youth was happy for that, yet, he didn't quite understand why he had to repeat basic things like that. Surely he wasn't getting something wrong and Yoakim just made him repeated everything over and over until he realized his mistake. The man couldn't be that cruel, now could he? Either way, he was now seeding doubt in the youth's mind.

"Good," said Yoakim finally leaving the bookshelves. He walked to the second couch and sat down. His hands reached for the teapot and he poured some of the liquid in both cups. Jacob thanked him but didn't make a move to reach his own. "And from all those governors, minus the High Priest, whom do you think holds the most power in the Holy Kingdom?" He brought the cup to his lips and sipped on it, his eyes looking straight at Jacobs.

This one was a tricky question that the boy had never thought about in the past. Of course, he could eliminate South Window immediately for not having a current leader, as well as the Wildland that didn't really bring much in other than exotic supplies. All the others, however, had their pros and cons. Greenhill was a very prosperous region, supplying the Holy Kingdom in food, fur, wood, and labour, plus scholars. Muse-Kyaro was the largest and a center of commercial trade and art. As for Higheast, it had gold mines and the Blight at its head. "I would go with either the Blight or the Atreides. They both are from noble families and bring in lots of riches," he finally tempted.

"You are right," admitted the knight. "And now tell me, which of those governors would pose the most danger to the Holy Kingdom?"

Jacob stared at his commander, not quite sure what he had meant by that, nor knowing what to answer. He lowered his eyes, fixing the liquid in the cup that was still in front of him and thought about the question. "I…. I suppose it would be…" he started tentatively. "The Wildlands? They are fickle about who leads them and change quite often…."

"No, you are wrong." Replied the other. "Fickle is good. You can predict fickleness. They don't pose danger as long as they aren't at peace with themselves. The Blight and the Atreides, on the other hand…."

"But, you just said they were the most helpful with the most power!" he protested.

"True. And that is exactly why they are trouble. They are both strong proud families. The Blight used to rule Highland and the Atreides dreams of more power. They are also citizen of Highland before being citizen of Harmonia."

"But Highland doesn't exist anymore! We crushed them!"

"Did you? I seem to recall a coward king giving his country in peace, hoping to save his people from being classed third rate. It worked, but not everyone is happy about that," explained Yoakim.

"Why wouldn't they be happy? They get to live a good life, like me and you, in the strongest country in the world!"

"Because they didn't_ choose_ it."

"I… I don't understand…" Jacob admitted.

"You will. One day. Just think on it."

Jacob stayed silent, trying to make head or tail from what Yoakim had just told him, or even just trying to understand why he was being told that. This time, he picked up the tea and brought it to his lips. It was lukewarm, having cooled off from sitting on the table for too long. The taste of it was surprisingly sweet like one had dropped a whole jar of honey in it. Somewhere under all the sweetness he could taste a faint hint of gingerroots.

"If they prove a danger, shouldn't you warn someone? Investigate? Something?"

"What's the name of my family, Jacob?"

"Uh? Uhm…. Windamier… "

"A Highland name. I'm a high ranking officer, but when it comes to my words, they are still words from a Highlander. That and I never said they _did_ pose a threat. I said they _could_ pose a threat." He refilled his own cup with the tea and put some in Jacob's, even thought the brunette hadn't drank more than half of his portion.

"Then… what…. I mean…why…."

Yoakim smiled. Something he didn't do often. "You're in line to become a Bishop. You'd outrank me in some years. However, with powers comes great – "

"Responsibilities?" finished Jacob.

"No, with power comes danger and jealousy. You won't get any better at fighting by staying here and having simple practice. You'd need real combat experience, but there's no war right now so there's nothing you can do about that. However, you can go around and strengthen your relationships with the nobles and if there's someone you want on your side, it's the Blight and the Atreides, especially the Atreides. Pilika Blight is a good woman not prone to anything rash. You can let her be for now and I'm sure she'd like you and wouldn't be too hard to make a friend out of. It's on the Atreides you need to work."

Jacob's facial expression was blanked as he thought about it all. It did make sense now that he understood what the knight had meant. Something took a while longer to get clear in his head, however, and when it did, he almost dropped his cup. "Wait! You want me too -?"

"Yes," cut Yoakim. "I want you to leave for Kyaro and befriend the Atreides."

Jacob stood up from his seat, shocked by that. He wasn't ready to leave! Well, he was ready, but he didn't want too. He hadn't been able to make the knight proud of him or even beat him in a duel once. How was he supposed to make him admit that he was talented if he was to leave? And for how long would he have to travel? That just came all too sudden for him.

"Calm down, Jacob" the blonde commanded, seeing the apparent nervousness of the brunette. "Being a bishop is not just being good in a fight. It means to be a good politician and leader as well, and, for that, you need support from the various noble families." Those words were enough to revive into Jacob a bit of confidence.

"Al-alright. I understand." He nodded, eyes closed.

"Good. You'll leave on the morrow," announced the knight. That would normally have the effect of stressing Jacob more, but, right now, he just wanted to get everything over with. "Take a boat from the port and head for Coronet across Dunan's lake. From there, you'll head straight north for the city of Muse. You should be able to get a carriage heading toward Kyaro from there."

"Alright…"

"Pick one soldier from here to serve as an escort. Once you get to muse, go ask its mayor for more help. You'll need it to go through the North Sparrow Pass. Tell her I'm sending you. She'll oblige to give you a man or two more."

"Alright."

"You can go now."

"Alright." Jacob stood up, made a small bow at Yoakim and headed for the door.

"Jacob," called the knight. "One more thing."

"Yes?" asked the boy.

"I just wanted to tell you that I understand why the bishops are backing you like they do. You're very skilled. You won't disappoint me, I'm sure."

Jacob's head made a jump and his stomach turned in him. It was the first compliment Yoakim had ever given him and it was almost like saying that he was proud. As much as he tried to keep a calm and serious face, a smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "Thank you, sir. I won't." He stepped out of the room and headed toward his room that was some floors lower. When he opened the door, he saw the shadow of Marc in his bed, as well as two girls in it with him. Well, one thing sure, he knew whom he was _not_ picking to escort him to muse.

* * *

><p><strong>Freja<strong>

The sea air was tickling her body as she ran naked on the beach. Her long blonde hair flowing behind her like a golden ribbon. The grain of sand going between her toes made her laugh. She felt like she could count every single one of them. She knew it was impossible, but she didn't care. Nine thousand three hundred and twenty eight. That was how many grains of sand that was on her foot right now.

She slowed her pace, coming to a full stop. How long had she been running? She couldn't remember. It felt like ages, yet, she didn't feel tired in the slightest. She turned to face the open sea in front of her; an open vastness with nothing but dark water and the reflection of the silver moon on it. She approached it, stopping just where the waves brought the liquid to her feet, washing away the sand that was sticking on them. It was cold, but she didn't mind. She liked it. She took a step forward. Then another. Then another. Soon enough the sea was hugging her up to the top half of her breast, her hair floating all around her.

"What are you doing here?" asked a voice with a grave tone.

"I'm swimming," she answered, not bothering to look where the voice was coming from

"You can't be bathing," the voice told her.

Freja frowned "Why not?" she asked. She liked it here, why couldn't she bathe?

"It's not a bath. It's a sea."

"Can't you bathe in the sea?"

"Yes, you can."

"Then why not?"

"Because you can't do it in _this _sea," explained the voice.

"I see," replied the girl, accepting the voice's explanation without much of a thought.

"You really shouldn't be here…" continued the mysterious voice.

"What about you?" Freja asked. "Should you be here?"

"I belong here," he explained. "I'm a fish." Freja lowered her eyes to look into the sea around her, and sure enough, there it was; one of the largest trout she had ever seen, staring at her with its huge eyes and half open mouth. "But you don't belong here. You shouldn't be here." The fish's lips moved as the voice made itself heard. It didn't seem to really be coming from the fish, but Freja didn't see where else it could be coming from, so a talking fish it had to be.

"Do I really have to go?" the woman asked.

"Yes," affirmed the fish. "You do not belong here."

"Where do I belong, then?"

"There."

Suddenly, she felt something long and viscous wrapped itself around each of her foot. Before she had time to do anything, the thing pulled her down under the water. She didn't have time to take in her breath and was just dragged, and dragged, and dragged. It was like the sea was above a never ending ravine and she was heading straight for the center of the earth. Many times she tried to pull herself free, but to no avail. Whatever was pulling her didn't want her to go…. Or rather, wanted her to be wherever it was pulling her.

Suddenly, she saw it, under her. There was a light… there was… a surface? She had been dragged from one side of the earth through another, going through a sea that linked on both side. The thing that was pulling her wanted her to be on the other side, probably to eat her. She felt herself pulled out of the sea and thrown in the air in such a shock that all the muscles in her body hurt. She gasped for air now that she was at the surface, not that she expected surviving much longer.

"Oh, hello there," said a very calm and feminine voice. Freja shifted her head in the direction the female voice was coming from. Towering above her was a woman with short brown hair and eyes to match them. She was wearing a long cotton dress dyed of a dark purple, and above it a sort of white apron. She was smiling faintly as she looked down on Freja.

"Hello." Replied the woman, not understanding what had happened.

"How are you feeling today, dear?" asked the stranger.

"Uhm….Fine?" Freja was extremely confused by the situation. Was the woman the one who had pulled her there? Was she a sort of kraken, but with a body of a woman? What kind of sick god would have created a monster like that?

"Good. We knew you'd be up in no time. Here, let me take a look at your head." The woman got closer to Freja and moved her head slightly to look behind it. Only then did she notice that she was in a bed and not on a beach or in the water anymore. Had she been dreaming?

"Am I dead?" she asked. That seemed more likely than her being in a bed. She didn't remember going to bed, even less so with that woman, so being dead made more sense to her.

"Oh, don't be silly darling. You're alive and well. Some young boy found you fainted in the forest and brought you here," the woman said, the same warm smile on her lips. She was moving around the room, opening the curtains and letting the sun light coming in to bathe Freja in it.

"Where is 'here'?" Freja was sure that it wasn't her room. Maybe it was the nursery in the Academy? It didn't look very much like it, but it had been a while since she had visited, so it could have changed a lot since she had been a student. She remembered the white walls and floor, with all those beds separated by white curtains and all of them facing the desk of the chief nurse who would keep an eye on them. This room, on the other hand, looked like just your average room, with the exception that the woman did give the air of a nurse.

"Oh, you're in the Chief's house, darling. We didn't know where you lived, so we just placed you here," explained the woman. "This reminds me, my name's Mio. What's yours honey?"

"I'm Freja. What chef?" Greenhill had many restaurants. There were many chefs that could have let her stay at their places. She hoped she knew him!

"Why, but the village's chief, of course. Is your head a bit foggy? I wouldn't be surprise. It was a hard blow you had there, but everything will be fine now, you'll see." She flashed Freja a large smile to reassure her. She found herself smiling back to the woman, even though she was even more confused than before she had asked the question. Greenhill's leader was not a chief; it was ma'am Kinth, the directress of the New Leaf Academy.

"Did Miss Ingrid get demoted?" she asked Mio, trying to understand what the nurse was telling her.

"Demoted? No, no. I don't think so. But she doesn't really have anything to do with this small village. The chief does more of the…. Well, chiefing!"

"….what small village?"

"Oh, darling. Don't you know where you are? This is the Forest Village, a three day horse ride west from Greenhill. I know the name is a bit silly, but people seem to like it. It _is_ a forest village after all." She giggled as if she had said something extremely funny. Freja, on the other hand, didn't feel like giggling at all. Not only was she at least three day late for her job, but it would take another three day to get back! Oh, that was it. She was so fired it wasn't even funny.

"What am I doing here?" she asked once Mio was done laughing and giggling. She was pretty sure that she had been in the forest on the outskirt of Greenhill when she had lost her runes, not all the way to the Forest Village!

Mio walked closer to Freja's bed and patted her head gently. "I just told you, honey. A young Karayan boy found you in the forest and brought you here. He was quite nice! It's rare that the Karayan comes all the way here but it's always nice when they do. I met a lot of them some years ago when I was in the Grassland. Very nice people, all of them."

"What's a Karayan?" asked Freja, pulling herself up a bit in her bed.

Mio looked at her with slight curiosity. She would have thought that everyone knew who they were. They weren't the most secretive people after all. "They're a clan from Grassland. They used to live close to here, barely a day north on horseback, but they moved some years ago, then again after Harmonia annexed most of the Grassland. They are all very tan and wear colourful clothes and live with nature and –"

"Colourful clothes!" Exclaimed Freja, cutting Mio in mid-sentence. She jumped from the bed, tripping and falling on Mio who caught her just in time.

"Woah! Don't rush yourself," said the nurse as she grabbed the other woman. "You just woke up. You have to take it easy. Go slow. Stay Calm."

But Freja wouldn't have it. She shook her head vehemently "I don't have time to stay calm! He could be far by now! I have to catch up with him!"

"The boy who brought you here? Is he your friend? Or perhaps…" The nurse blushed lightly at her thoughts. "Your lover?" she said in a half breath, a twinkle in her eyes.

"What? No! He would be a thief! He stole my two water rune! And he raped me too!" the blonde woman explained.

The nurse stared at her with knitted eyebrows. Obviously, Freja was still puzzled from her previous commotions. "No, no. You must still be confused. He brought you here when you were hurt and also left two runes for you. They are on the night stand. Just here. And I can assure you there was no sign of any rape. He was a perfectly nice boy."

"Must be a trap! Must not be _my_ runes! I have to get them back! And get revenge! Ohhh- I will get him! Where did he go? Where!" She took a grab of the nurse and started to shake her. Lightly at first, but quickly growing faster and surprisingly stronger for a girl her size.

"W-w-w-w-haaaat? He-he went back to Karaya. But-but-aahh…"

Freja let Mio out of her grasp and quickly rushed out of the door before anything else could be said from Mio who was left standing in the middle of the room by herself, in silence.

"But… your runes…. And you are still wearing a night gown…. And that's not the right direction… " She finished, even though no one else was there to hear her. "Dear Goodness, what have I unleashed upon the world…?"

* * *

><p><strong>Noel<strong>

Evidently, Noel had done some calculations wrong when he thought to have landed about an hour walk from South Window, as it had taken him more than three to do it, adding in the two rest stops he had done at the end of each hour, it had taken him almost five hours in total.

Nightfall had happen a while ago now, but fortunately South Window was a big enough place to have its people still awake at this time. If he had been in a small village, he wouldn't have been able to even find an open inn, but here it was an easy task; he just had to follow the noise of the various drunk men, which would lead him straight to a place to rest.

South Window was one of the oldest cities around. It had been built many centuries ago when the short-lived Dunan Kingdom was created. It was the first city to be part of the old Kingdom, the one to become its capital, and the last one to stay when the kingdom crumbled upon itself due to poor leadership in 252.

Most of the residents of South Window were bureaucrats; too busy filling forms and paperwork to have any sort of fun, or army for that matter. Much of their defence came from its sister city of North Window. It did, however, have a better market than the northern city. It was after all an important center of trade. If Muse was the trade capital for Harmonian production, South Window was the one when it came to the International Trade.

While most of the city's houses and shops were only one story tall, they were however packed one next to the other to the point where you had trouble seeing where one building stopped and the next began. Wood and rocks made up most of the city's structure and the many rock gardens found in every corner made it a very beautiful place to visit. From what Noel had heard, it was second in natural beauty only to Kyaro, but having never been there, he couldn't be the judge of that. Of course, Crystal Valley and the Toran Capital of Gregminster were usually counted as being better, but theirs were architectural aesthetic. South Window's was due to its landscape which was something Noel held in higher regards.

The dragon knight finally arrived to a small inn and pub establishment. He opened the door and walked in. He was greeted by a skinny thing of a woman. She was at least a head shorter than him and half his size. He asked her to rent a room for the night and the transaction happened without much ceremony. She told him the price, he paid, and she left. It was nice when things could go as smoothly and effortlessly as that.

Still, he wasn't ready to go to his room just yet. He had travelled many hours, both on foot and on dragon's back and the only thing he had to eat since leaving the Dragon's Den was a piece of jerky and nothing at all to drink. In other words, he had a stomach to fill and a thirst to quench.

He walked on the pub side of the inn and was not surprised by what he saw. Most of the customers there were at least twice his age. Most was putting it lightly, for the only person less than forty years old he could see was a serving girl with a long black ponytail, two knights that seemed to be from Zexen talking at a table, and a redhead youth passed out on a corner table with a bottle of wine tipped off next to him.

This was a normal sight in South Window, however. Most of its youth's population would either go to Greenhill to study or join military training in North Window. Some would always come back to join a political career, be a bureaucrat or dabble in trades, but by then, they could hardly be called young adult anymore.

He sat down at a free table, not much far from the drunk ginger and called the serving girl over. He ordered her to bring him a mug of ale as well as the heartiest meal they had and she commanded as so. She came back almost immediately with the beverage and Noel didn't waste any time into quenching his thirst with it. She came back soon after with a plate that made the knight salivate from just the look of it. It was a whole rabbit, grilled and charred over an open flame. Drops of honey from the glaze where still dripping down from it, proving that it had been basted many time throughout the cooking. Served with it were slices of carrots, turnips, and onions that had been cooked in the rabbit's juice and fat. The smell of it alone would have made a king slobber in excitement.

He grabbed one of the legs of the animal, tearing it apart easily. The meat was so tender that there was no use for fork and he'd be damned if he was using a fork. He happily bit into the meat and was not disappointed by it. The glaze of honey not only gave it a sweet and smoked taste, but had kept most of the juice inside of it. He felt a dribble of honeyed juice slide down the side of his mouth to his chin and he wiped it with the back of his hand. The table cloth would be used at the end. There was no point in ruining it right now if he just had to repeat that movement every two bites of so.

Like an ogre, he swallowed most of his food quickly, washing it down with the ale that kept being refilled every time he signalled the serving girl, Betty, as he had learned she was called. Only when all of the rabbit but its carcass had been eaten and half the vegetables did he start slowing down his food ingestion. It was around that time that he noticed an old man entering the establishment. He wouldn't have given him a second glance if it hadn't been for the unusual black cloak he was wearing and the rather long white beard.

He didn't give the man much more attention than that, being more focused on his meal, but when the cloaked man sat down at his table, there was no way he could keep ignoring him.

"Good evening," said the stranger in a raspy voice, his eyes hidden under a black hood.

"Eve'ing." greeted Noel, his mouth half full of carrots and still not paying much attention to the stranger who was sitting in front of him.

"Quiet night, isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

"You don't seem to be around from here, do you?"

"No, I am not," replied Noel, now wishing that the old man would walk away.

"You shouldn't be here, you know?"

That, on the other hand, caught the knight's attention. Was the old man trying to threaten him? "And where should I be?" he asked the old man, his eyes fixed where the stranger's should be.

"Just not here. Are you leaving soon?"

"Yes. I am. I'm heading for Crystal Valley."

"No, that's not where you are heading."

"Then might I ask where I am going, then?" Noel spoke, anger now in his voice.

"You are going to your death."

And on those words, Noel dropped his last turnip on the floor.


End file.
